American Chemical Society Carol Libby Lehigh Valley Local Section Chair, LSAC Subcommittee on Grants...

American Chemical Society

Carol Libby

Lehigh Valley Local Section

Chair, LSAC Subcommittee on Grants and Awards

Wayne Jones

Binghamton Local Section

Immediate Past Chair, LSAC

Planning Effective Events

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EVENTS PROGRAMS MEETINGS

The primary focus for your Local Section

• Technical knowledge

• Enhancing career

• Sharing chemistry with community

Biggest budget item

What’s your dream project, a local section event that you feel passionate

about?

Record this in your New & Improved Events List

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To Ensure Effective Events

Plan• Use a schedule or timeline

• Delegate

• Follow-up

Tools• Yearly event schedule

• Event Planning worksheet

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Take an Overview of Local Section Events

Fill in the Event Schedule for your local section for 2010.

• Add as many details as as you can

• Include your “dream project(s)” and mark with *

___________________ ACS Local Section  20__ Event Schedule

Title Date Time Location Contact/ Coordinator Info

Budget/ Cost

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Insights from Yearly Event Planning

Type(s) of events

• Technical

• Career development

• Social

• Outreach

• Education

• Advocacy

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How are we engaging the participation of Chemists who are….

• Early, mid career and senior chemists?

• From industry, academic, government, non traditional career fields?

• From various educational backgrounds?

• Under 35?

• Women?

• Differently abled? (disabled)

• Of non-US origin (nationality)?

• Hispanic, African-American, Native American Chemists or from other cultures?

• Students (grad, undergrad and post docs)

• Technicians?

• LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered)?

• K-12 Educators?

• Of various socio-economic statuses?

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Insights from Yearly Event Planning

Calendar, time of day, place, style

• Leaders, members, and coordinators can get ACS business on their calendars early

• Overscheduled times? Lulls that are opportunities?

• Time of day, day of week

• Geographic locales varied, analyze section roster by zip code

• Vary venues: college/university/school, industrial site, museum

• Dietary issues: Dinner/cocktails/snack

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Insights from Yearly Event Planning

Who is doing what?

• Is one person taking all the responsibility?

• Risk of volunteer burnout

• Do coordinator’s responsibilities match person’s interests and management strengths?

• Planning meetings require officers’ time, too

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Insights from Yearly Event Planning

Financial aspects

• Coordinate with section’s budget planning

• Other sources of funding and partnership?

• Cost to member

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Some Ideas for Events…

Discuss opportunities for regional cooperation for events

• Joint meetings?

• Share a speaker to reduce expenses?

• Suggest an excellent speaker from your section

Add ideas for regional cooperation to New & Improved Events List.

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Some Ideas for Events…• Technical events

Social events, possibly family inclusive

• Advocacy - Interface with government

• Public Outreach

National Chemistry Week (NCW), October 17-23, 2010

– Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED), April 22, 2010

– National Lab Day

– Museum demos/activities

Yearly focus

– 2010 Mentoring and Continuing Education

– 2011 International Year of Chemistry

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Some Ideas for Events…

Find partners in community groups/institutions

General interest speakers: forensics, beverage making, history, environment, new therapies

Educational: co-host science fair or poster session

Electronic events: webinars, video feeds of meetings, a PowerPoint skills class

Section anniversaries

Host a regional meeting!!!!

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Some Ideas for Events…

Add 4 good event ideas to your New and Improved Events list.

Choose the event that you would most like to plan.

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Essentials of the Event Planning Process

Please refer to blank Event Planning Worksheets.

You’ll work on details later in the session, but we want you to have this worksheet in mind during the next few slides.

Why?

The right person will have interest, experience, follow through.

What has to be done?Verbs: identify, contact, develop, recruit

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Don’t forget time of year, budget planning restraints.

Also consider how many people tasks require.

Detail $ amountsNeed to know number of participants

IPG (January 31 and June 30 deadlines, time, requirements and restrictions)Cosponsors: technical or community organizations, corporationsIn-kind: printing, event space, AV, advertising, supplies, PR

PR: How to appeal to and reach targeted groups?

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Be specific……

Rain, caterer no-show, extras show up, etc.

Objectives met? Define success ahead of time.Not just numbers: reach new constituency, identify new volunteers or partnersAsk all participant types: planners, presenters, attendeesFeedback helps with saying “thank you” and requests for repeat funding

Build on momentum of event…….post event PR?EVALUATE AND DEBRIEF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! memories fade, planners move awayWhat are possible improvements for next time?Write it up: post event PR, Annual Report, ChemLuminary Award nomination

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Develop Your Event

Work on one of your ideas using blank Event Planning Worksheet (10 minutes)

Share your plan with a partner at your table to get their critique (5 minutes)

What are the biggest challenges to executing your event?

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Your Section Is Assured of Effective Events

•You know the basics

•Plan ahead – Plan ahead

•Use a schedule – Create a timeline

•Delegate – Delegate

•Follow-up – Follow-up

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Your Section Is Assured of Effective Events

You have the tools

•Yearly event schedule

•Event Planning worksheet

•ACS Resources

- Get Involved/Stay Involved

- Peers: LSAC members, local section leaders met here

- ACS Staff

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Your Section Is Assured of Effective Events

You have a great start

•Schedule of section events for the year

•Possible opportunities for regional cooperation

•6 ideas for new or improved recurring events in your local section

•A plan for a specific event, detailed and critiqued

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Applying Saturday Learning– Engaging and Motivating Volunteers

• How to recruit the right people

• How to encourage people to take on an assignment

• How to give people a rewarding volunteer experience

– Collaborating Across Boundaries

•Gain members’ trust

•Work with members who are peers or more seasoned volunteers

– Developing Communication Strategies

•Communicate new ideas

•Communicate with non-chemists

•Keep others informed

– Strategic Planning

• Setting the direction for your section

• Helps you to align the goals of your section with those of the ACS Board of Directors

– Engaging Colleagues in Dialog

• Deliver a clear message

• Understanding the messages’ of others

RELEVANT ONLINE COURSES

Running Productive Meetings

Managing Projects Effectively

Understanding Members’ Interests

Scholarships are available. 50% off the 4-hour courses and more than 50% off the Extraordinary Leader course. Contact leaders@acs.org to get your local section’s scholarships for 2010 courses. LSAC has

scholarships for you to take the Extraordinary Leader course—talk to Lee Latimer if interested.

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For more information

Carol Libby: cblibby@cs.moravian.edu

Wayne Jones: wjones@binghamton.edu

ACS Staff: olsa@acs.org